First off, a big thank you to HarperCollinsUK, OneMoreChapter, and NetGalley for an eARC of “The Locked Attic” by B. P. Walter, as well as for including me in an Instagram readalong of the book.

“The Locked Attic” follows a woman after the death of her son and husband. With differing time lines and points of view, this story attempts to fill in the gaps about what happened in the days and years leading up to their deaths, and what the neighbors across the street have to do with any of it.

Being completely honest, I left this book with some mixed feelings. While overall the plot was good, it’s nothing like what I had expected when I read the description of the book. While it was certainly an interesting story, I wish I had been more clued in to what the plot was really going to be like before I started.

In the end, this one wasn’t for me. I wanted a little bit more thrill from it, maybe it was just that I couldn’t shake my preconceived expectation of what I thought it would be. Have you read “The Locked Attic?”

This book has twists and turns and kept me guessing until the end. It is written from different viewpoints and has multiple timelines. The story itself focuses mainly on Stephanie, who moved from London to Kent with her husband and son Danny. and wakes up in hospital confused and disoriented, unsure as to how she got there. We soon establish that there is something suspicious about the Franklin family across the road. What are they hiding? I loved how Danny and Jonathan Franklin’s friendship developed but I would have liked a bit more background on the Franklin family, especially Janet Franklin. Also Stephanie’s relationship with her own family was only touched on and I personally would have liked more. Thank you to Netgalley and One More Chapter Harper Collins for the opportunity to take part in the readlong for this.

I was so intrigued by the synopsis, who was the mysterious figure and what happened to the son? The book opens with Stephanie waking up in a hospital bed with few memories of how she got there. The book is then told through flashbacks to 7 months ago. I loved the intrigue of this one, which certainly kept me guessing, I was truly compelled to keep reading through all of the twists and turns of this absorbing book. With secrets uncovered, this is a fantastic book.

Plot
There’s something in my neighbour’s attic.

Something steeped in shadows. A secret to everyone. Seen by no one…

He stands sometimes at the window. Hidden in the corner of my eye.

I know he’s there. I know he’s watching.

Now my son is dead. My neighbour is not.

And I’m going to find out why.

Review
Ok now I’ve picked my jaw up off the floor I can put some thoughts together.

This is a tense and fast paced novel dealing with some seriously dark issues. You already feel like the outsider looking in from the first page and you honestly want grief stricken Stephanie to find out as much as you.

The Franklins are the perfect amount of old school creepy and you know there’s something up with them from the start you just don’t know what.

The book jumps time frames and points of view but flows freely and quickly and you don’t get confused whilst reading.

There are some triggering themes in here but if you can read you should. It’s a perfect, edge of your seat thriller that you won’t be able to put down.

Rating
5/5

Recommend
Yes - trigger warnings apply.

Thank you to One More Chapter for an advance copy as part of the readalong.

An intriguing premise that unfortunately fell flat for me. This was a case of too many plot lines that were trying too hard to shock. The title didn't tie in until almost the end, and if that storyline had been the central focus of the book instead of everything else, I really think I would have enjoyed it more. I never really connected with the characters, and usually dual timelines and alternating points of view are my favorite, but they were just confusing in this book.

I haven't read anything else by this author, and I'm open to trying another title.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publisher for my e-copy of THE LOCKED ATTIC that will release May 9, 2023.

The Locked Attic was a gripping read that kept me turning the pages. I got about half way through this thriller and suddenly I couldn’t put it down.
At times it’s a little implausible, that you can invite yourself in to someone’s house and refuse to leave until you have the answers you crave, which pretty much just land in your lap.. I didn’t particularly like Stephanie.

However, I was really moved by the relationship between two other characters. Their relationship was written beautifully and that was my favourite part of the book.

I came up with some weird and wonderful theories as I read but I was way off on what was actually in the attic. The ending was really poignant but there were one or two plot events that were left unexplained.

To sum up, it’s not a perfect read but it was a total page turner and I was entertained throughout. I would recommend it to those who like quick and easy domestic thrillers.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This was an odd, unsuspecting read. Was not prepared for the premise but the subject matter was well written and evoked emotions for the character and what they were going through. The perfect family is anything but and the neighbors get caught up in very disturbing ways. Loved the story lines and how screwed up but real the family dynamics were.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

This was a twisted book. Told in alternating chapters from present time to past. We follow Stephanie after she looses her husband and son. She visits their neighbors to try to find out more about what was going on with her son. What she eventually finds out was a big surprise.
Parts of the book were more interesting than others.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Review copy (eARC) provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm hesitant to give a less than stellar review for books that didn't connect with me when I think the issue is me, not the author (see some of my other Goodreads reviews). However, I did round down my rating in this instance because it was just not an experience that clicked for me.

This is such a mix-up of a book that is deceptive and teasing and it's not until the end that it all makes sense. Which, of course, is what it's supposed to be. Not until the end does the locked attic become a feature but the prospect of it hangs over the entire story like a spectre. The chapters are marked by an explosion, before it happened - even years before, days after, the day itself...it seems to be a significant event. Then there's the car crash.

A story about two families who live facing each other in an upmarket district in Kent. Told mainly from the perspective of one of the women in the first person, jumping across periods of time, telling a simple and often seemingly mundane lifeline. How she met her husband, how she feels by not being as well-connected or as wealthy as he is, her dysfunctional family and so on. How she suspects her neighbours (the snobby, affected wife and the quiet, creepy husband) of keeping secrets.

The other narrator is her teenage son and his story is about his friendship with the boy from the family over the road. This is a heart-warming coming of age tale, about friendship, anxiety and love. And secrets.

A confusing and disjointed mystery until everything falls cleverly into place. Some interesting characters with skilled nuance. Recommended.

The Locked Attic was promised to be a "just one more chapter" book and it definitely lived up to that expectation!

This story opens up in a hospital where we meet Stephanie. We have no idea why Stephanie is in the hospital, but we do find out shortly that she's lost her family prior and that she doesn't quite feel right about the circumstances. What follows is a nonlinear timeline where we go back to try to piece together what exactly has happened to cause the death of her son and husband, which she feels was not as accidental as it seemed while also figuring out what has landed her in the hospital in the first place. Between the creepy, strange family across the street and the relationship with her son she is still trying to make sense of after his death, you won't want to miss this one!

This story was incredibly engaging right from the start. While I enjoyed the nonlinear timeline, I will admit it was difficult for me to figure out what was happening and when at first. However, after a few chapters I got each of the timeline's down and was sucked into the story. It was definitely one that had me up late into the night reading. I will definitely continue to check out books by this author!

I had seen some amazingly pre-release promotions about this book, so was delighted to be able to review a pre-released copy.

Ok, so I am a little disappointed. Was expecting something more but can’t put my finger on exactly what is missing. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it and was engaged and invested in the death of little Danny but expecting something a little more explosive as a conclusion. This is my personal preference, and I know some readers have loved this, so please don’t be put off picking it up!

Although this was a slow burner, to begin with, I soon became invested in the characters and finding out their secrets, so am glad I stuck with it. Without adding spoilers, I will just say there are many of them! Some twisted, some a little predictable.

I usually love a dual timeline set-up, but this did become a little frustrating in places as the past was drip fed in small quantities. However, not enough to make me want to put the book down.

Overall, this is worth the read, with a rating of three stars. Perhaps I should have gone in without expectations, and I would have enjoyed it more. See what you think of this new release!

I didn’t really like this book. Once again I expected what the synopsis promised, a dark thriller and I was mislead. It was so slow and I did not like the multiple timelines.

Stephanie wakes up in a hospital without any recollection about what happened. She has a head injury and is confused.

The book goes into the days leading up to a gigantic explosion and the day of. Then there’s the mystery of what is locked away, hidden in the attic.

The Locked Attic is available November 24,2023.

Thank you to netgalley and harpercollinsuk for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a huge case of “don’t judge a book by its cover/synopsis” because I most definitely did it with this one. 🫠 I expected something ENTIRELY different to what I ended up reading. The synopsis made it sound like the book’s focus would be the locked attic which is why I imagined this to be a locked room mystery/thriller with an attic setting. If this book is giving you the same vibes, you might want to either go into this with an open mind or even better, completely blind.

If this book wasn’t short and I wasn’t invested in Danny’s POV, I most likely would have DNF this one. The story itself was anticlimactic, several aspects predictable, and the multiple jumps into different timelines made it messy.

Unfortunately, this book just was not for me.

People from the city, beware the suburbs! Stephanie, her husband Pete and their fifteen-year-old son, Danny, move into an upscale London suburb. Danny soon makes friends with the kid across the street. But Stephanie finds the parents are just plain odd. What secrets are they hiding in The Locked Attic?

Explosions, a mystery and an impressively tender coming-of-age story are marred by an obvious early plot twist. However, The Locked Attic’s final twist is shocking and well worth the time spent reading the book. 4 stars!

Thanks to One More Chapter and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

This is my first BP Walter book. I have to say it was not what I expected. The timeline all works around before and after. The chapters are marked as before and after an explosion (which really had nothing to do with anything except possible as metaphor) but it is really more about before and after the loss of a family.

There is a touching story of love, friendship, and acceptance woven through this story. Unfortunately, it is presented as just another secret on the cul-de-sac. There seems to be an effort to make it taudry. You can see it coming from the beginning.

The truth about the locked attic itself was disappointing. I didn’t even really care about it. The characters revealed were already completely horrible. There was no need to make them more so. I felt it took away from the actually story here.

I went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars. I think I’m rounding up for the touching tale that underlied everything else.

Stephanie's son and husband are dead. The only person who can explain what happened is her son's friend Jonathan who lives across the road. When explosions in town force residents to stay indoors, Stephanie makes it a point to be in her neighbour's house so she can find out the backstory.

I kept waiting for the locked attic to come into the story...and boy, when it did, I was shocked! This book ambled on and I thought it was a little predictable, until it wasn't. Super intriguing but dark read. If you like twisted disturbing thrillers, you will enjoy this one. I'm excited to read more by this author!

I was disappointed with this latest offering from BP Walter. After the thrill of The Dinner Guest and the suspense of the Woman on the Pier, I was ready to be gripping the pages of the book eager to find out the big twist.

And then I got there and I was like, "really? That's it?" Hoping for some redeeming yikes moment I hurried through the rest of the book. And there was none.

It was a pleasant book to read and a little on the creepy side but comparing them to the two prior works mentioned, I wanted more. I wanted to be scared, white knuckled, holy cats! Instead I got, hmm... eh.

I hope the next book has more of the fright factor I was hoping to find.

What's it about (in a nutshell):
The Locked Attic is a psychological thriller about a woman who lost her husband and son in a tragic car accident and the many secrets they kept from each other.

Initial Expectations (before beginning the book):
I have had mixed experiences with books by BP Walter, so I'm not sure what to expect from this latest novel. I loved The Dinner Guest but couldn't finish The Woman on the Pier. So, my initial expectations are blank as I don't want to preset my mind in any direction.

Actual Reading Experience:
I enjoyed the narration and pacing, which I will have more about in that specific section. Still, a whole host of other aspects presented a challenge for me, so writing my typical kind of review is also a challenge.
One reading challenge I had was that I didn't get it. I didn't understand the story's point except to unearth the secrets, but to what end? The knowledge of the secrets didn't go anywhere. We learned what they were, but I didn't find them shocking or unexpected. There are plenty of hints about the direction they will take all the way through. And the locked attic – well, I could have lived without knowing what was in there, but as I said, I already figured it was something on the line that it was.
There were also loose ends that I didn't understand. Even if they were plot devices, I expected an explanation or tie-in to the story's central premise. The main one was explosions going off in the neighborhood. Very little is said about them, so I had no idea why or if this is some kind of regular occurrence in that area of the world or what.

Characters:
Character development was so-so. All the secrets caused a barrier for me when it came to learning more about their choices and why. The best thing in the story was the relationship between Danny, the main character's son, and Jonathan. It was sweet to watch it develop, and it felt like a genuine depiction.

Narration & Pacing:
The narration is done in the first person through Stephanie's eyes. She is also hiding secrets which makes the reliability of her narration questionable, and she is going through a lot that can be a bit tiring in the beginning. It calms down in that regard about halfway through. And, the narration does change POVs to Danny periodically, which also helps break things up.
The pacing is super-fast, and I enjoyed the pacing most out of all the aspects of the story.

Setting:
The setting is a well-to-do neighborhood outside of London in Kent. And the timeline switches around to tell what's going on in the present and what happened at different points in the past. This aspect also kept the pace quick, I believe.

Ultimately, I guess this book just wasn’t my cup of tea though I did enjoy certain aspects of it.

I am a big fan of BP Walters and loved all his books so far. This one is no different. It is structurally very different to his others books and the characters are well developed. It is a great read and one that I would highly recommend,